THE UTILITY OF DATA FROM FIELD PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT

Abstract : In conducting field performance measurement, an estimate of individual or group performance is measured with respect to some larger system. Three general points at which researchers frequently fail to apply this measurement objective to the field measurement process are considered: First, in defining the tasks to be performed, the performance is often unwittingly changed so that it no longer conforms to the goals of the system. Secondly, the ability to obtain an estimate of field performance is frequently degraded by failure to maintain representative sampling in the selection or weighting of performance tasks. Finally, in selecting performance measures the observable system behavior is often abandoned in favor of some judgmental estimate of behavioral effectiveness. This not only leaves the relation of behavior to system goals unknown, but also limits the utility of the data with regard to other aspects of the same system or to other systems. (Author)